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Best New Yorker Articles of 1988

Explore 52 featured picks from The New Yorker's 1988 issues.

52 picks · 52 issues · Top author: Raymond Bonner (2)

Most featured section: A Reporter at Large

Featured Picks

PERU'S WAR
Raymond Bonner · A Reporter at Large · January 4

REPORTER AT LARGE about Peru. Peru is engaged in a struggle against the ruthless revolutionary movement, the Sendero Luminoso or Shining Path. The movement…

Letter From Washington
Elizabeth Drew · Letter from Washington · January 11

Just as Reagan was widely being written off as irrelevant, as a lame-duck President merely serving out his last days, the recent summit meeting here with …

Slowly
Peter Cameron · Fiction · January 18

If Tom, the narrator, wasn't gay, he would have married Jane, his friend from college. Instead, he introduced her to his brother Ethan, and Ethan …

I-THE HOMELESS AND THEIR CHILDREN
Jonathan Kozol · A Reporter at Large · January 25

Mentioned at length in REPORTER AT LARGE about the homeless. The rate of child poverty in 1984 was one-third higher than it had been in 1976. The …

II-THE HOMELESS AND THEIR CHILDREN
Jonathan Kozol · A Reporter at Large · February 1

REPORTER AT LARGE about the homeless. Writer tells about a woman he calls Laura, who lived at the Martinique Hotel with her 3 children. She eventually was …

Down In Florida
Jane Shapiro · Fiction · February 8

Just before New Year's the narrator goes down to Florida with her ex-husband William. His mother, Lainie, is in the hospital with stomach pain. They …

In Tir Na Nog
James McCourt · Fiction · February 15

This is a story of Hollywood & Kaye Wayfaring, now in her forties. She is a legendary movie actress who has also made a few music videos, but has not …

Memphis
Bobbie Ann Mason · Fiction · February 22

Beverly and her husband Joe, who live in Kentucky, separated about a year ago. For the sake of their three children they tried to get back together, …

BATS
Diane Ackerman · A Reporter at Large · February 29

A REPORTER AT LARGE about bats. Writer follows Merlin D. Tuttle, a world authority on bats and the founder and science director of Bat Conservation …

EXPLORERS
Henry S. F. Cooper · A Reporter at Large · March 7

REPORTER AT LARGE about a visit to Moscow to learn about the Soviet space program. The real space center, Starry Town just outside Moscow, where the …

DRY SEASON
Judith Thurman · A Reporter at Large · March 14

REPORTER AT LARGE about Nicaragua. Tells of the political conflict in the country which led, early in the present century, to U.S. Marines being sent in …

THE GODS AND THE STARS
Mary Anne Weaver · A Reporter at Large · March 21

REPORTER AT LARGE about Sri Lanka, an island nation off the southern tip of India. The country is divided into two hostile camps-those of the Sinhalese …

REBIRTH OF A NATION
Daniel Ford · A Reporter at Large · March 28

REPORTER AT LARGE about restructuring the Soviet economy by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He took office in Mar., 1985 & announced the following Feb. …

IRISES
· A Reporter at Large · April 4

REPORTER AT LARGE about auctioning art, especially about the sale, last fall, of van Gogh's "Irises" at Sotheby's in New York. The painting was …

BLOODY GAMES
Eqbal Ahmad · A Reporter at Large · April 11

REPORTER AT LARGE about Afghanistan which was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1979. The Soviet Union has had a long-standing interest in Afghanistan. After …

FEEDING THE RAT
A. Alvarez · Profiles · April 18

PROFILE of Mo Anthoine, 48, a mountain climber who lives in Nant Peris, Wales. He and his wife, Jacqueline Phillippe, own and operate Snowdon Mouldings, a …

AuH2O
Burton Bernstein · Profiles · April 25

PROFILE of former Republican presidential candidate & Arizona senator Barry Goldwater... Officially retired since January of 1987--after being a Republican…

Private Lesson
Lindsley Cameron · Fiction · May 2

Mrs. Longo has no aptitude for teaching, and she finds it disagreeable. Mr. Takahashi, whom she is coaching (tête-à-tête) at the moment, seems to her to have no aptitude for learning. But no sympathy, no mercy, no affection dilutes the rigor of her pedagogical efforts. It is not merely that Mr. Takahashi lacks charm for

Vanished Overnight, But Not Forever
George W. S. Trow · Fiction · May 9

This story begins with a quotation from "People" magazine which tells of the decline of Marguax Hemingway who was finally helped at the Betty Ford clinic. …

OUT OF THE DESERT
Milton Viorst · A Reporter at Large · May 16

REPORTER AT LARGE about Kuwait, a segment of desert roughly the size of New Jersey. It has beneath its surface one of the world's largest reservoirs of…

PLAY AGENT
Mel Gussow · Profiles · May 23

PROFILE of London play agent Margaret Ramsay. From a playwright's point of view play agents are deal-makers, or matchmakers-pairing playwrights and …

THE INITIATOR Staff consultant to NBC News
Mark Singer · Profiles · May 30
I-THE NEW ORDER
Raymond Bonner · A Reporter at Large · June 6

A REPORTER AT LARGE about Indonesia... Indonesia is a country whose potential role in world affairs seems to be inversely proportional to the world's …

PARISH PRIEST
Paul Wilkes · Profiles · June 13

PROFILE of Father Joseph Greer, 56, a Roman Catholic priest whose parish covers almost 4 square miles of the town of Natick, which, with 8500 parishoners, …

An American Soldier in Vietnam I—The Rooster and the Tiger
Neil Sheehan · Annals of War · June 20

Neil Sheehan’s 1988 profile of Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann.

Hic Haec Hoc
Penelope Gilliatt · Fiction · June 27

Diana is being tutored by Professor David Reid about Chaucer when Prof. Hugh Hower-Bennett shouts through the open door that Jane Shaw, Ph.D. will be …

Rerun
Anne Tyler · Fiction · July 4

Maggie and Ira arrive at a church in a small town near Baltimore for the funeral of Max Gill, an old friend and the husband of Maggie's oldest friend, …

Spokane
Graham Coster · Fiction · July 11

During a dinner party in August, Brian who lives in England receives a call from his friend Jo, who has been travelling worldwide for 6 mos. Now he is in …

AN OVERGROWN JACK
Gwen Kinkead · Profiles · July 18

A PROFILE of Ray Hicks, a champion story-teller who tells the "Jack tales". Hicks lives in southern Appalachia and will only leave it once a year to go to …

CROWN OF THORNS
Daniel Ford · A Reporter at Large · July 25

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Great Barrier Reef & the threat to it from coral-eating crown of thorns starfish. The Reef stretches down the northeastern …

CAFETERIA
Michael Stern · A Reporter at Large · August 1

REPORTER AT LARGE about cafeterias, particularly the unique Laughner chain in Indiana. There are 5 Laughner cafeterias in Indianapolis, one in Plainfield, …

THE LONG RIVER
Robert Shaplen · A Reporter at Large · August 8

REPORTER AT LARGE about a month-long visit last fall to China by the writer & his Chinese-born wife, Jayjia. They explored the remarkable Long River (its …

Dirty Mind
Mark Moses · Popular Music · August 15

Mark Moses on the singer as successor in a long line of R. & B. bandleaders, reviewing “Sign O’ the Times” and the album’s fast follow-up, “Lovesexy.”

Annemarie Singing
Harold Brodkey · Fiction · August 22

Story about a boy, Wiley, his parents, S.L. and Lila, and their servant, Annemarie. Wiley recalls the 2 1/2 or 3 years that Annemarie was with them as …

SKIRMISH
Lawrence Weschler · A Reporter at Large · August 29

REPORTER AT LARGE about Poland. On May 10th, a 16-day nationwide series of rolling strike actions by Polish workers came to an end as a few hundred Gdansk …

Strangers in Hollywood
Joan Didion · Letter from Los Angeles · September 5

The author on her experience of California earthquakes, the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, and the question of houses in the city—and what they are worth.

I-LARGE CARS
Bryan Di Salvatore · A Reporter at Large · September 12

A REPORTER AT LARGE about trucks & about truck driver Lonnie Umphlett... Lonnie drives a tractor-trailer rig for Davis Transport of Missoula, Montana... …

II-LARGE CARS
Bryan Di Salvatore · A Reporter at Large · September 19

A REPORTER AT LARGE about truck driver Lonnie Umphlett, truck stops & driving long-distance trucks. Writer tells how Umphlett manages his driving logs. …

A MOMENT WE HAD TO GRASP
James Lardner · A Reporter at Large · September 26

A REPORTER AT LARGE about Soviet filmmakers & the second Entertainment Summit, held in the USSR... In April of 1986, the Moscow branch of the Soviet …

THE CHRISTIAN ENCLAVE
Milton Viorst · A Reporter at Large · October 3

REPORTER AT LARGE about Lebanon, especially the country's powerful Maronite Christian community. It was thought this was a good time to go since the …

CROCODILEANS
Diane Ackerman · A Reporter at Large · October 10

A REPORTER AT LARGE about alligators... Crocodilians, birds and dinosaurs had a common origin about 230 million years ago, in the Mesozoic Era, in a group …

Mikhail Gorbachev, in Power
Robert Cullen · Letter from Moscow · October 17

Robert Cullen on Gorbachev’s rise in the Soviet Union—and the Stalinist essence of the country he was trying to govern and reform.

THE RELIGION OF THE PAST I-JUST JUDGMENT
V. S. Naipaul · A Reporter at Large · October 24

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Old South. Writer visited Charleston and Columbia in South Carolina. In Charleston the historical area is like arriving in …

THE RELIGION OF THE PAST II-SOMETHING WE ALL LIVE WITH
V. S. Naipaul · A Reporter at Large · October 31

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Old South. Writer visited Mississippi. In Jackson he heard about the unusual state constitution, drafted in 1890, after the …

Counting Votes
Ronnie Dugger · Annals of Democracy · November 7

ANNALS OF DEMOCRACY about voting by computer. Since 1964 different kinds of computer-based voting systems have been installed nationwide. This year 55% of …

Work
Denis Johnson · Fiction · November 14

Fiction, from 1988: “In small ways it was turning out to be one of the best days of my life, whether it was somebody else’s dream or not.”

Former ballet dancer and now director of Miami City Ballet I-SLOWER IS FASTER II-THE PRODIGAL
Arlene Croce · Profiles · November 21
II-THE PRODIGAL
Arlene Croce · Profiles · November 28

PROFILE of ballet dancer & director of the Miami City Ballet Edward Villella & discussion of the Balanchine ballet, "The Prodigal Son" which Villella is …

On Earth
John Holman · Fiction · December 5

Sam works as a machinist's assistant at a rock quarry. At 19 he left home, moved to another town 90 miles away& began night classes. Going to night …

A GENTLE REIGN
Susan Orlean · Profiles · December 12

PROFILE of Kwabena Oppong, who is the king and supreme ruler of the African Ashanti tribespeople living in the U.S.

Snow
Charles Baxter · Fiction · December 19

12 year old Russell& his older brother Ben drive out to Five Oaks Lake(MI)one Saturday afternoon in January to see the car that went through the ice two …

THE INTENSITY FACTOR
Carol Flake · Profiles · December 26

PROFILE of D. Wayne Lukas, a California horse trainer. From his base in California, Lukas has created a virtual franchise system of training, with racing …

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